Who is your God? Who is your Lord

​“So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god (ĕlōhîm). Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” 

Then they called on the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1:6, 14‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/jon.1.6-14.NASB1995

Most of us know the story of Jonah but I wanted to bring out something different in this story. I noticed that when the captain came to wake Jonah that he used a lowercase “g” in god, but then before they threw Jonah overboard that the crew, including the captain, used “LORD”. So upon further investigation, I found that elohim (ĕlōhîm) was used for god and Jehovah (Yᵊhōvâ) for LORD. Elohim is the plural form of god. And Jehovah is the Lord. How did the crew come to know the Lord? Jonah told them in verse 9.

“He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/jon.1.9.NASB1995

Jonah confessed that he feared the Lord (Jehovah) God (Elohim). In their distress, Jonah had taught these sailors who was the Lord God. 

Who is your God? Who is your Lord? Are you serving a general god who is only at your disposal when you're in a pinch? Or are you serving The Lord God who made all that we see and don't see? 

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3:15-16‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/1pe.3.15-16.NASB1995

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:8-10‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/100/rom.10.8-10.NASB1995